Sharing profits
co-founder of Co-op Black:
Our entire staff donates to some kind of NGO in one way or another, and in 2018 we realized that Co-op as a business had an opportunity to help them even more. On March 8, 2018, we partnered for the first time with the Sisters Center, which helps female survivors of sexual assault. All the money from the sale of espresso that day went to the fund, we got 18 thousand rubles. A year later we started a campaign called “Coffee for Sisters” for a few months, not at the Sisters Center but for women in general. We sold packs of coffee with illustrations by nixelpixel, transferring 120 rubles from each pack to three foundations: ANO “Women for Development,” the E.V.A. Association, and the INGO Crisis Center for Women.
Besides, we cooperate with Nochlezhka. Since our coffee shop is located in the area of “Kurskaya” and “Kitay-Gorod”, where there are many homeless people, they constantly come to us, asking for hot water or just to get warm. In December 2018, we participated in the “Espresso Help” campaign, when coffee shops choose a drink or dish, all proceeds from which go to the foundation that day. We chose espresso, since it’s one of the most popular drinks, besides, its price of 150 rubles is relatively affordable for everyone. We have taken part in this campaign three times, with a maximum of 130 cups sold per day.
Since April this year we launched a permanent promotion with “Mediazone” – “Coffee with donation”: we have long had a separate subscription for coffee (drink delivery service), but within the framework of this promotion we transfer 400 rubles from each subscription to “Mediazone” every month. Once a month a person receives four packs of coffee from Ethiopia and Colombia and two letters about the political history of these countries. Right now, 34 people use the subscription.
commercial director of the jewelry studio:
Our company has existed since 2016: we design wedding and engagement rings and make them. I myself have long ago subscribed to a monthly donation to the foundation “Old Age in Joy” through the website “Need help”. But in 2019, I decided it would be great to increase the amount and join the brand to the charity. We came up with the idea internally: our clients often ask to have rings engraved, and we decided to send the profits from each engraving to charity.
We sent the proposal to several foundations, including Need for Help. When I asked what the minimum amount for donation was (I was then worried that people would give millions, and we could not offer them), several foundations responded with a fixed rather high amount. It wasn’t even the amounts that confused me, but the approach itself. My great sympathy for the “Need for Help” fund was confirmed when the team said that they would be happy to get any funds.
We did not announce to the guests that we cooperate with the Foundation, but now we had the idea to put in the bag with the rings and recommendations for care a paper pen with the inscription “Help Wanted x CHUVSTVA”. This way we want to remind people that they have done a good deed by buying our products.
Our entire staff donates to some kind of NGO in one way or another, and in 2018 we realized that Co-op as a business had an opportunity to help them even more.
